Characters and Monsters in Ecstatica
This article lists and describes all characters and monsters found in Ecstatica. Note that neither the game nor its manual provide any names or other information about the vast majority of them and a lot of this article's content is based on interpretation and thus debatable. Also hard numbers are not available at the time. Things may change in the future as reverse engineering attempts may reveal information hidden in the game's data. It goes without saying that this chapter contains a certain amount of spoilers. Please note that at this point this article is very early work in progress. Characters Despite monsters having slaughtered the majority of Tirich's population there are still a few survivors to be found in the village and its surroundings. Since the hero is a new face that appeared soon after the cataclysm, some of these survivors will presume that he is one of the monsters. They will often threaten him or express sheer terror upon his sight but some of them will also help him, especially after doing something for them first. The Traveller Ecstatica's protagonist is an anonymous traveller on a journey somewhere in Northern Europe 928 A.D.. Neither his identity, background nor the purpose of his journey are ever established and he seemingly only gets involved in the events at Tirich by sheer accident. The traveller is characterized as an average guy who has little to know prior experience in combat, is clumsy, easily frightened and has to overcome these fears to become the hero that Tirich needs. He never goes through a huge transformation that makes him appear like a typical heroic warrior type. Even after acquiring knighthood, probably the most dignified moment in his entire life, he retains all his prior traits, continuing to fight in an awkward manner, stumbling upon rocks, frequently falling victim to traps and ambuhes, shaking in fear when facing danger and relieving himself casually next to the roads. All in all he is clearly an unlikely hero. Note that the hero's background is vastly expanded and his characterization fundamentally changed in the sequel. Ecstatica Ecstatica is the witch who accidentally unleashed the demon and is responsible for all the horrors haunting Tirich. The wizard residing in the nearby castle tells the hero that she was his maid and very talented when it comes to magic but overestimated her powers. Monsters Ecstatica features dozens of different monsters, some of them being based on medieval folklore and mythology, others being creatures typically found in modern fantasy works. Below is a list featuring some of them. Werewolf The Werewolf is one of the first and most frequently encountered enemies in Ecstatica and also the most recognizable one. He is notable for being extremely strong, setting up dozens of ambushes and reappearing often in many different locations, most frequently in the village, however. He is also characterized as the most sadistic creature haunting tirich, seen brutally murdering one of the villagers and capturing and torturing the hero. Upon the hero's death he is always seen in the game over animations, relaxing with his fellow monsters. During these animations he demonstrates the ability to talk (which, excluding the Demon and his servant, makes him the only talking monster in Ecstatica), confirming his extremely sadistic nature with the content of his speeches. While being extremely hard to kill, several hits can make him back off for a few moments which offers an opportunity to escape. Goblins Goblins are the most numerous and harmless kind of monsters, serving rather as comic relief than actual opponents. They are seen in many places in the village and one of them is the first monster encountered in Ecstatica. Despite wielding miniature maces and being quite strong for their size they have trouble dealing any damage to the hero but can pose an annoyance in larger numbers, ambushing him on numerous occasions (even capturing him at one point). They aren't particularly respected by the other monsters as is seen during one of the game over sequences where one of them is casually and lethally hit by a minotaur which only results in laughter from the Werewolf. Minotaurs There are two unique minotaurs present in Ecstatica. They mostly share the same appearance but differ in color, one of them being completely brown, the other having partially red fur. While being physically practically identical they differ greatly in their behaviour. Both of them are encountered in the forest and garden area between the village and the castle. The brown minotaur is always encountered sitting calmly and won't attack unless the hero approaches him. His attacks are strong but even after standing up and assaulting the hero he remains relaxed, walking only very slowly. The red minotaur on the other hand is very energetic and the fastest enemy in the game. He always makes an appearance leaping or running into the screen and then keeps running at the hero at high speed. While the brown minotaur is easily outrun it is almost impossible to get away from the red one and he should be disposed of as quickly as possible. The brown minotaur is among the creatures seen socializing with other monsterns in the game over animations. Wyverns There are three wyverns to be found in Ecstatica, sharing the same physical appearance but having a unique color each, green, red and blue. They are all encountered in the village. During gameplay wyverns are always seen flying but just above the ground, always in range of the hero's attacks. They attack their victims by breathing fire at them. While dealing a fairly large amount of damage they can't take a particularly huge amount of punishment. One of the wyverns is always first encountered upon entering the tavern where it is seen knocking out the drunkard. The green wyvern is also among the monsters relaxing together after the hero's death. The Lord Demon The Lord Demon is the main antagonist and final boss of Ecstatica. He is the evil force that Ecstatica accidentally unleashed during her occult experiments, dominated her mind and released the army of monsters upon Tirich. He introduces himself as "the Lord Demon, Devil, Creature of the Abyss and Evil Wanderer of the hells of this world". Presumably he is the ruler of all the other monsters in Tirich but possibly they are all different manifestations of his, disappearing with him if he is defeated. Most of the time he rests in form of a brown levitating sphere alongside Ecstatica in the sarcophagus in the cave beneath the church. After the traveller has gained knighthood and obtained the relic, the Demon will invite him to an audience, however, taking on the form of a huge werewolf during the conversation. During the audience he presents himself as charming, expressing himself in a very civilized manner and offering a glass of wine. He is also clearly convinced of his superiority, literally calling himself "perfect" and claiming to be "undestructable". In the conversation he also unwillingly reveals that he is in fact scared of the relic, comically belittling its value in the process. Despite taking on huge and intimidating physical forms he is obviously socially quite adept and seductive and is not only a bloodthirsty monster, he clearly also values hedonistic aspects of existence and, according to his own words, has "a kind heart". Rather than simply trying to destroy the hero he offers him a deal, promising an eternal life of pleasure in exchange for the relic, and curiously actually keeps his end of the deal if the hero agrees. If the hero refuses, however, the demon gets furious and abandons all kind appearances, taking on the form of a huge dragon and attacking him with a breath of fire, much like the wyverns. If the demon is successfully defeated Ecstatica will awaken and all other monsters in Tirich presumably disappear.